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The girl behind the blog...

Welcome to my blog! I hope you enjoy reading about my busy life with my husband of 30 years and our four sons and daughter-in-law. We are now empty nesters and my blog is helping me through the journey. I love the Lord and I love my family. I also love to decorate and go to thrift stores!

Thursday, September 25, 2014

I can't believe that it's already been a month since Cameron and Megan's wedding! Today I wanted to share with you what I did after my son got married. We were so busy the few weeks before the wedding getting our place ready for the rehearsal dinner, I was really ready for a vacation! I tend to get down after something big in my life happens, even if it is a great thing like my son's wedding! I feel like a weirdo, but it happens to me all the time after Christmas, when the kids graduated, after parties, and even after my own wedding. I try to combat it by making more fun plans. I purposely took the whole week after the wedding off from work and this is what I did (if you are interested, click here to read what I did after my first son's wedding)

The very next morning after the wedding, Eric and I slept in and had a lazy morning. Eric went golfing with some buddies, so I decided to spoil myself a little. I had a nice breakfast and watched a chick-flick on the Hallmark channel.

Then I had a nice relaxing long bubble bath with soft music, candles and coffee!

My girlfriend, Mary, came over and we had ice tea out in the barn, which was still decorated from the rehearsal dinner.

She brought her precious granddaughter, Layla. Layla played while I told Mary all about the wedding.

Isn't she adorable!

That night Eric and I invited our new neighbor, Ron, over for dinner. We had so much food left over after the rehearsal dinner that we wanted to share it. I met Ron out on my jogging road across the street and learned that he was new to town and that his wife had recently passed away. I wanted to invite him over for some time now, and this was the perfect time! It was really great getting to know him better and we found out that he has a wealth of knowledge on farming. We had a wonderful evening!

The next day Eric and I hit the road and headed to the coast for a romantic get away!

So fun!

There's the ocean! Isn't it beautiful!

We talked and talked on our drive. We relived the wedding and talked about our blessings. We also talked about some of the hard issues we are facing with some of our family members. I'm so thankful that I have my hubby to share these issues with.

We stopped for a delicious lunch at a cute coastal restaurant.

I feel so happy and carefree!

We had lots of fun stopping at antique stores.

This is a new thing for us as a couple and I love it! I have always collected antiques, but my husband just started getting interested in antique farm and logging equipment. He wants to decorate his shop and our yard with unique pieces. This was one of my favorite things about our whole get-away!

We booked a night at the Sandcastle Inn.

Love the view!

Love my man!

This is what I needed!

Time to just sit and relax in the fresh sea breeze and look at the ocean. Auhhhhhh......

Oh, and time for kisses too! :)

We went to the casino to eat dinner.

We were so happy when they gave us a window seat that overlooks the ocean!

What a gorgeous view!

While we were there we played a little keno. We won two bucks!

Mmmm! The food was delicious!

I loved every minute!

Time to hit the slot machines!

We have no idea what we are doing! We won a little and lost a little and called it good!

As we were driving back to the hotel the sun was setting. It was breathtaking!

I got one last shot of it as it was going down from our hotel room.

Beautiful sunset! It's so peaceful here. It's funny because the ocean's roar is so loud, but somehow there is a quietness about it.

Someone built a bonfire up on the beach, isn't it pretty!

The next morning we woke up to fog.

It's very pretty and the air smells so fresh.

Love this guy!

It was nice to stay warm by the fire and have coffee!

We got dressed and went to a cute little place for breakfast.

Then we went back to the hotel and walked on the beach.

I'm so thankful for this man whom I have shared my life for 36 years!

The beach was gorgeous, the sun was coming out and there was hardly any wind!

Eric + Sharon + Love!!!

We had fun combing the beach.

I can't help it, I always bring home a few shells and pretty rocks.

Ewee...a big dead Jelly Fish. I have never seen one so large.

The water is soooo cold! I can only have my feet in it for a tiny bit, but it feels so good! It reminds me of my carefree childhood days!

We had such a great time, but now it's time to head back home. We went the long way home and stopped at more antique stores. My hubby finally bought something......

...he found this cool old push rototiller. It's his very first pick! I'm so proud of him! We found many similar tools at the antique stores for $50.00 to $100.00 and he found this at a thrift store for only $10.00! We have it displayed out in our flowerbed in the front yard!

The next day I just piddled around our house and property. I took a blanket out to the shade and sat to reflect, do a Bible study, pray and start planning our garden for next year.

I love to lay down under the trees and look up, it's it pretty!

Hayden and his buddy, Colton were out spray-painting Hayden's Jeep. I started helping them. I love having this kid around. He was going to move out in June, but the plans fell through, so now it will be at the end of college in June of 2015. I'm glad I get to have him around a little bit longer.

At the end of the week I headed up to my sister, Kathi's house.

This is one of my favorite things to do! I love visiting their farm and hanging out with her and her family.

They got two new puppies! Aren't they precious! We stayed up late and watched a cute movie!

We went thrifting with three of her four kids, Victoria, Jessica and Garrett.

We stopped at Costco and visited with her eldest child, Harrison, who works there.

Time for yogurt!!! We went home and had pizza for dinner and watched another movie. So much fun!

The next day us girls all went on a jog and took a selfie before. I love all of these women!

Then my sister and I did the ALS ice bucket challenge! If you don't know about this, it's to raise awareness about the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, which is a debilitating disease. The ice bucket challenge has raised millions of dollars for research. We got in the hot-tub right after that and had our coffee and had a long chat. I had a great time at my sister's house and I love her so much!

I had a lovely vacation and my heart is full! I am so happy about Cameron and Megan's wedding! I had a wonderful, restful and fun vacation. I am happy to report that I did not get the blues once. I am thankful to God! I am so thankful to my husband. I am so thankful for my many blessings! Now it's time to get back to our regular life!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11